Another Day
by Kiki102
Summary: Sequel to One Time Thing. Gibbs and Alexa's lives without Jenny. JIBBS and TIVA
1. Chapter 1

**Ciao mi amici! This is the sequel to my story One Time Thing (if you've not read it head over to my profile if you want to check it out) but you don't have to have read it for this to make sense. For those of you who haven't read it, Alexa is Gibbs and Jenny's daughter and Jenny died in Judgment Day. Anything else will probably come up in here. This is set fourteen years after OTT, when Alexa's sixteen. **

**The title comes from an Amy Diamond song. I did think of going for the obvious one, I miss you by Miley Cyrus, but I didn't want to go for the obvious conventional option. There is (or soon will be) a link on my profile if you'd like to check out the song. I would highly recommend you to, it's amazing. **

**Okay, I've yapped on for long enough and probably bored you all already (sorry for that). The plot fairies have been attacking me about this one for ages, since before I was halfway through OTT. So enjoy and reviews make me smile. :)**

**Christina x**

**NCISNCISNCIS**

_I'm sorry for all the words I didn't say  
__It's too late-cause now you've gone so far away  
__I feel like I'm lost-with nothing left but shattered dreams  
__So lonely-I'm holding on to memories_

_But then I feel your love surrounding me  
__And it takes away the pain inside of me  
__I believe, I believe we'll be together_

_Another day-another time and place  
__Somewhere, someway-we'll meet another day  
__Another day-belongs to you and me  
__Somewhere, someway, another day_

_Oh darling, we may be so far apart  
__But I know that you'll always stay inside my heart  
__Forever-cause you're the only love I've known  
__Together-I'll never have to be alone_

_Your spirit gives me hope to carry on  
__I understand that even though you're gone  
__Life goes on, life goes on without you baby_

_Another day-another time and place  
__Somewhere, someway-we'll meet another day  
__Another day-belongs to you and me  
__Somewhere, someway, another day_

_Another day-another time and place  
__Somewhere, someway-we'll meet another day  
__Another day-belongs to you and me  
__Somewhere, someway, another day_

**-Amy Diamond "Another Day"**

Gibbs glanced over at his sixteen year old daughter, Alexa. She sat in the passenger seat of the car, with her feet resting against the glove box, staring out of the window. It was late January and Washington was grey. He turned back to the traffic ahead of them. The lights changed to green and they began to move forward again. Neither father or daughter spoke. Silence seemed to be all that passed between them these days. Everyone said it was just because Alexa was a teenager, that she would grow out of it eventually. But Gibbs suspected it was more to do with the ten year anniversary of her mom's death. Ever since then Alexa had retreated more and more into her shell. She'd never been especially talkative, too much like her father, but he was lucky to get a whole sentence from her now. He glanced at her again. Her reddish brown hair now reached down to her elbows, the curls from her childhood had all but disappeared, only a few stray curls and kinks remained. Her turquoise eyes remained the same, blue with the flecks of green inherited from her mother.

They pulled up outside Alexa's high school and she seemed to snap out of her reverie. She grabbed her bag from the backseat foot well and climbed out the car.  
"See you later," Gibbs called.  
"Later," came the distant reply just before the door swung shut.  
"Love you," he sighed before driving away.

**XOXOXOX**

Alexa dialed the combination and opened her locker. Running her hands through her hair, she looked at her reflection in the small mirror taped into the door. Although she'd inherited her mom's facial bone structure, everyone said she looked more like her dad. It was true. She rummaged in her locker for her Spanish books, then shut her locker again. The bell rang, and students slowly began making their way to homeroom. Alexa looked around and sighed. Great. Another day in paradise.

**XOXOXOX**

It was already beginning to get dark when she arrived home that night. The air was biting, and stung her cheeks, turning them bright red. Inside, Alexa threw her keys onto the table, hung up her coat and went to her room. She pressed on the cd player and Carrie Underwood "Play on" began coming through the stereo. Her dad wouldn't be home for hours yet. The house was hers, as usual. So Alexa followed her usual routine; cooked a frozen pizza and curled up on the sofa and watched tv.

When Gibbs arrived home, the house smelt of pizza.  
"Hi," he said. Alexa glanced up and nodded. Silence, again.  
"I'm going to the basement," he sighed.

"Why change the habits of a lifetime?" Alexa muttered once he'd left the room. She grabbed the remote and stabbed the buttons angrily to change the channel. She didn't even know who she was angry with, her dad for being so far away, or herself for distancing herself from him.

Some things didn't change. Gibbs was grateful he still had the basement and his boats. The same familiar smell of sawdust and bourbon, the same dim light, the same peacefulness. The only difference now was on the wall behind his workbench he'd tacked up a couple of pictures. There were the three of Jenny from when they'd worked together the first time, one of Jenny and Alexa as a baby, one of him and Alexa on a past birthday, and finally, one of Shannon and Kelly.

"Hey guys," he said, looking at the pictures. Tony would say he was going mad, talking to pictures. Unsurprisingly, no reply came. He poured bourbon into an empty jar, took a sip, then began working on his boat. His usual routine.


	2. Chapter 2

"McGee! You really need to wear squeaky shoes! Or hum or something so we know you're coming!"  
McGee stopped and stared at Tony, confused.  
"What?"  
Tony was sitting on Ziva's desk, probably teasing her, although she didn't looked as annoyed as she usually did when Tony was annoying her.  
"Never mind," Tony replied, returning to his own desk.  
"Okay..." McGee said, still confused.

"Morning boss," Tony said as Gibbs entered the squad room. As usual, Gibbs didn't reply.  
"How is Alexa?" Ziva asked. "We have not seen her in a while."  
"She's fine," Gibbs replied. Tony and Ziva exchanged a glance. Both were close to Alexa, and knew there was more going on than Gibbs was saying. Alexa used to always be at NCIS, now she hardly ever came. Admittedly she was older now, but they still suspected things weren't good between father and daughter. Gibbs' phone rang.

"Gibbs," he answered. A few seconds later he hung up. "Dead Marine at Quantico. Grab your gear." The three agents ran after him, but Ziva and Tony hung back a second.

"There is definitely something wrong," Ziva said quietly.  
"I agree sweetcheeks," Tony replied, placing a quick kiss on her cheek before Gibbs saw, then grinning.

**XOXOXOX**

Alexa massaged her temples with her fingers, ignoring her biology teacher and classmates. Her head had been feeling funny all day. Thankfully, the bell rang, releasing her from class. Lunch. Surely something to eat would make her feel better. She'd be fine.

As she walked to her locker after finishing her burger and soda, Alexa didn't feel any better. If anything she felt worse. Suddenly it felt like she was going to puke. _Bathroom_, she thought._ That way if I am sick, I'll feel better and it won't matter_. She entered the toilets, and that was the last thing she remembered.

**XOXOXOX**

"Tony why do you look like you have just swallowed a lime?"  
"Lemon, Ziva, the saying is looking like you've swallowed a lemon, not lime," Tony corrected.  
"Whatever," Ziva said dismissively. "And anyway, they are both sour so would it really make a difference?"  
Tony frowned. "I don't know."  
"That does not answer my question," Ziva said.  
"I don't know if it would make a difference if it was a lime or a lemon!" Tony cried.  
"I meant my first question."  
"Oh. Right. I knew that."

"What are you two talking about?" Gibbs asked, entering the squad room. "And it better be case related."  
"Of course it was boss," Tony replied. Gibbs raised his eyebrows.  
"Well?"  
"Um... Actually it wasn't," Tony admitted.  
"DiNozzo-"

Gibbs was cut off by the ringing of his cell phone. Silently, Tony praised whatever technical god made cell phones ring at precise times, and thanked it for saving his life.  
"Gibbs."

Tony and Ziva watched his face change, then he hung up and marched out the squad room.  
"DiNozzo take over," he called over his shoulder.  
"That was not good news was it?" Ziva said.  
"No," Tony replied. "So about this lemon/lime theory."

**XOXOXOX**

Gibbs strode through the ER anxiously until he found the room he'd been directed to.

"Daddy!" Alexa said, sitting up, then putting out her hands to steady herself.

"Hey Allie," he said, sitting down on the bed next to her. She threw her arms around his neck. "Shh," he whispered. "It's okay, I've got you."

"Daddy," she whispered again. He held her shoulders, removing her head from his shoulder so he could look at her chin, currently cover with a makeshift bandage of gauze. He could see a faint red outline through it.

"What happened?" he asked gently.

"I was feeling funny all morning,' Alexa explained, trying to stop herself from crying. "I thought once I ate something I'd feel better but I... I didn't. Then I felt like I was going to be sick so I went to the toilets. And that's all I remember. I think I remember putting my hand on the bin cause I felt dizzy but I might be making that up. I woke up and everything before was really fuzzy, like a dream. I thought the morning had been a dream. Then I realised my chin hurt and when I looked down I had blood all over my hands." She took a ragged breath. "Daddy I really don't want stitches. I'm scared."

Gibbs put his arms around her again, mindful of her chin.  
"It's okay Allie," he reassured her. "It's okay. No need to be scared. I'm here." He rubbed her back slowly and reassuringly. He heard her sobbing quietly and held her tighter.

When the doctor returned, she wanted to stitch the cut, but Alexa was adamant she didn't want stitches. The doctor agreed to glue and steri-strip it instead.

"No stitches?" Alexa asked warily, just incase they were trying to trick her.  
"No stitches," the doctor replied.

Once the doctor was satisfied, they were allowed to leave. In the car on the way home, Alexa stared out the window, her arms wrapped around herself. Her chin wobbled a few times but she refused to cry again. When they arrived home, Gibbs helped her inside, as she didn't trust her legs yet.

"I wanna change," Alexa said. Blood was clearly visible on her white t-shirt, and Gibbs could see a stain on the dark blue demin of her jeans too.  
"Okay," he replied, helping her to her room.  
"Will you wait outside my room, just in case?" she asked, biting her lip.  
"Sure," he smiled.

After she'd changed, Gibbs helped her back to the living room, onto the sofa. He went to the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with a mug and a bowl with a spoon sticking out of it.  
"Your mom's cure for everything from a headache to broken bones," he said. "Hot chocolate and ice cream."  
Alexa smiled. The ice cream disappeared quickly. Alexa sat cradling her mug. Gibbs put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it.  
"Hey, smile."  
She managed a small smile.  
"C'mere."

She put her cheek on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around her, feeling her body tremble with sobs.  
"Daddy," she whispered through the tears.  
"It's okay Allie, it's okay."

**NCISNCISNCIS**

**Sorry for the delay in updating, but apparently it really does take this long to move broadband from one phone line to another.  
**

**Christina x**


	3. Chapter 3

**BTW, when Gibbs and Alexa talk about rule 9, they're just teasing the two guys. And I can't remember the details of how Gibbs and Hollis met so I'm making it up completely. Oh yes, Hollis features! Well she couldn't in OTT because Gibbs was with Jenny. So she's coming in here. But I'm pretty indifferent to her so she won't be a total bitch or anything. **

**Christina x**

**NCISNCISNCIS**

Alexa finished tying up her hair and stared at her reflection. Her cut was still steri-stripped, the red ends visible on either side. She tried to touch the end but shuddered and pulled her hand away quickly, unable to do it.  
"Als, you're gonna be late!"

Alexa grabbed her bag and left her bedroom.

"I really don't wanna do this," she said. Gibbs glanced at his daughter. "They're all going to be talking about me and laughing. Everyone'll be having a go at me."  
"No they won't."  
"Dad, it's high school. Of course they're going to have a go at me."  
"Don't worry," he told her.  
"Easier said than done," she replied.

When she got out of the car, Alexa caught sight of two guys from her Spanish class. Apparently they saw her too, because they began pretending to faint before falling about laughing. Alexa sighed.

"See?" she said before closing the door. Gibbs had an idea. He smiled and wound down the window.  
"Hey Alexa," he called. She stopped and turned. "Rule 9."  
"Never leave home without a knife?"  
"Yep. You got yours?"

Alexa smiled as she caught on.  
"Duh dad. I _always_ follow your rules."  
"See you."

Alexa flashed a grin at the two idiots who'd suddenly become very still. As she walked into school she allowed herself a small laugh. Got them.

**XOXOXOX**

"Boss, someone here to see you from the Army CID," Tony said. Gibbs looked up, but the agent was nothing like he'd expected. She was in military uniform yes, but she was quite attractive, with blonde hair tied back into a French plait.

"Special Agent Gibbs?" she said.  
"Yep. What can I do for you?" he asked.  
"Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann," she introduced herself. "I believe you're investigating the death of Marine Gunnery Sergeant Robert Grimes?"  
"Yeah. What's it to Army CID?" Gibbs asked.  
"Can you confirm how he died?"  
"Why?" he asked a small smile playing on his lips. Lt Col Mann smiled back.  
"Because, Agent Gibbs, we have investigated the murders of an Army Corporal and Private who died in exactly the same way," she replied. "We heard that your marine died the same way. I'd like to know if our killer is your killer."

They smiled at each other for a moment.  
"Follow me," Gibbs said.  
"Where to?"  
"See our ME."

Once they left the squad room, Tony glanced after them.

"I have a really bad feeling about this," he muttered.

**XOXOXOX**

Alexa climbed onto her dad's workbench and started taking out the containers of take out.

"What is it?" her dad asked, leaving his boat and coming over to investigate what she'd brought.  
"Chinese," she replied, handing him a pair of chopsticks. She crossed her legs, and started to eat her crispy duck and rice.  
"Dad," she said. "Why did you start building boats in your basement?"  
"Dunno," Gibbs shrugged. "Felt like it."

Alexa paused, a piece of duck in her chopsticks halfway to her mouth. She raised her eyebrows.  
"You felt like it?" she repeated slowly.  
"Yeah."  
"Just seems like an unusual hobby that's all."

Gibbs reached out and ruffled her hair. Alexa laughed and ducked, shaking her head to put her hair back in place.


End file.
